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Spanish Inquisition: How Will Barcelona Cope With Jose Mourinho's New Look Real Madrid?
Goal.com's Paul Macdonald ponders the Blaugrana's reaction to another Blancos revolution...
| Bet: | Returns: | Real Madrid £10.62 | Draw £90.00 | Levante £210.00 |
|
| Bet: | Returns: | Real Madrid £10.80 | Draw £100.00 | Levante £260.00 |
|
| Bet: | Returns: | Real Madrid £10.80 | Draw £100.00 | Levante £260.00 |
|
| Bet: | Returns: | Real Madrid £10.80 | Draw £87.00 | Levante £170.00 |
|
Aug 19, 2010 11:10:00 AM
By Paul Macdonald
“We have now closed our signings for the coming season. We have made a great effort to rejuvenate the team and we are very pleased to complete this objective.”
With this announcement, Real Madrid director-general Jorge Valdano slammed the Santiago Bernabeu entrance door behind Mesut Oezil. The summer transfer influx has been concluded for another year. Jose Mourinho, it appears, is content with the players he has at his disposal.
For Madridistas, it has been a close season in stark contrast to the prolificacy and extravagance witnessed 12 months previously. A year ago, money was no object, market value no concern, and when acquisitions strayed into los Blancos’ crosshairs, returning president Florentino Perez ruthlessly drove through the deal.
Compare this with the relative austerity shown this summer; Angel di Maria tops the spending table, but was initially expected to cost €40m from Benfica before negotiations concluded the final fee to be in the region of €25m. Pedro Leon is undoubtedly a future Spanish international, and costing just €10m from capital colleagues Getafe, has a fundamental knowledge of La Liga, where he has performed to a high level in the preceding two campaigns.
Despite the consistent clamour for a top quality defender, moves for Maicon and Thiago Silva failed to materialise, with Ricardo Carvalho teaming up with Mourinho for the third time in his career at a cut-price €8m. Sami Khedira completes Real Madrid mark II of the new Perez epoch, and with Sergio Canales being retained rather that shipped out on loan, there is no shortage of competition for a starting berth at the Santiago Bernabeu next season.
This is all well and good, you may ask, but how should this affect Barcelona, and how they conduct their business this season? After all it is unlikely that, Manchester City excluded perhaps, a club will outlay anywhere near what Real Madrid did in order to construct a team from the ashes of the Bernd Schuster/Ramon Calderon demise – certainly not within the foreseeable future.
And yet, Pep Guadiola’s swashbuckling Catalans maintained dominance, triumphing in both El Clasico encounters and ultimately retaining the Primera Division title. If Pep’s cultured collection of footballers were able to weather that particular spending storm, then why should they feel concerned, indeed apprehensive, about another Madrid summer of spending that exceeds their own?
There are key factors that suggest that this season may be altogether different, however, and will fundamentally shape the Primera Division campaign. It is how Guardiola’s side adapt and evolve to overcome these additional obstacles that will prove pivotal.
There is, of course, the Mourinho factor, surely soon to be given its own scientific thesis. Jose is arguably the first coach coveted as vehemently as any marquee signing, and it is little wonder. The Portuguese is the fixer, the former, the creator of miracles, and his signings have been shrewd, calculated, and in all the right places.
In situations of distress last season, for all the Benzemas, Kakas, & Alonsos, los Blancos had one simple tactic – provide the ball to Cristiano Ronaldo, in space. Against weaker sides, it worked, too, but against Barcelona, an altogether more sophisticated tactical perspective is required. However, as highlighted in the Champions League semi final last season, Mourinho has proven he is astute enough to manoeuvre around the strategies of Guardiola. The Barcelona coach faces the most charismatic of opposite numbers, and one that has dished out defeat to him before. The psychological warfare will begin from when the first ball is kicked.
Barcelona’s number one defensive tactic is also their most potent offensive one – possession. Retaining the ball frustrates opponents, and makes them anxious when they are able to regain the ball because they are well aware it could be a full three or four minutes before they see it again.
This will remain Guardiola’s philosophy – one that he would change for no man – but intriguingly, Mourinho has assembled a group which are equally comfortable on the ball in their own merit. Carvalho is notorious as, alongside Gerard Pique, the most accomplished central defender in the game with the ball at his feet. New additions Khedira and the exciting Oezil – ‘The German Iniesta’, if such a comparison is possible – played in a Germany team confident of their own touch, each one with proficient awareness.
Alonso is the passing ‘Don’ in the family that is the Spanish international midfield, while Canales will have been engrained in La Roja's philosophy at under 21 level. Few teams take on the Blaugrana at their own beautiful game, but if Mourinho were to attempt it, it would represent a different challenge from those Guardiola has tackled during his two-year tenure.
Barcelona also face a rival that, even Guardiola himself would admit, have considerable depth to their squad in comparison to the comparatively meagre number of first team players he has available. David Villa and Adriano are the additions, but Thierry Henry, Dmytro Chygrynskiy, Rafael Marquez, and Yaya Toure the departed – the maths simply don’t reconcile for a squad that was bereft of depth and fortunate with injuries in 2009/10.
An attempt at masquerading, at papering over the cracks by utilising the latest La Masia products to emerge in the Supercopa versus Sevilla ultimately ended in a 3-1 defeat. This is the first sign that Guardiola knows he can’t place the same strain on the likes of Xavi, Messi, and Iniesta for a third consecutive season, or risk significant burnout as the importance of the fixtures progressively grows. You feel that the young fringe players may be required to mature as quickly and effectively as Pedro did last season, in order for Barcelona to have the fortitude for competition on all fronts.
Madrid, conversely, look to have first-class cover in every conceivable position, and in Mourinho have a coach who can extract the best from a player asked to deviate slightly from their comfort zone. Should Oezil be asked to operate from the left wing, or Ronaldo asked to resort back to his conventional right wing role, the former Inter diplomat is an expert in making each and every player seamlessly fit into one.
However, Barcelona's most significant asset remains the gradual configuration of their team, as opposed to a Real Madrid that will take time to find correlation. The relationships are already in place, the wavelengths synchronised, and in Villa they have secured one of the greatest strikers in the world - South Africa 2010 did nothing other than cement this belief.
There is no denying that this Real Madrid squad, with a certain Special coach, represents the single most viable threat to Barcelona's domestic supremacy since Guardiola replaced Frank Rijkaard. How Pep handles the new and improved, refined Madrid will shape the destination of this season's title. With a matter of days until the big kick off, the prospect is mouthwatering.
With this announcement, Real Madrid director-general Jorge Valdano slammed the Santiago Bernabeu entrance door behind Mesut Oezil. The summer transfer influx has been concluded for another year. Jose Mourinho, it appears, is content with the players he has at his disposal.
For Madridistas, it has been a close season in stark contrast to the prolificacy and extravagance witnessed 12 months previously. A year ago, money was no object, market value no concern, and when acquisitions strayed into los Blancos’ crosshairs, returning president Florentino Perez ruthlessly drove through the deal.
Compare this with the relative austerity shown this summer; Angel di Maria tops the spending table, but was initially expected to cost €40m from Benfica before negotiations concluded the final fee to be in the region of €25m. Pedro Leon is undoubtedly a future Spanish international, and costing just €10m from capital colleagues Getafe, has a fundamental knowledge of La Liga, where he has performed to a high level in the preceding two campaigns.
Despite the consistent clamour for a top quality defender, moves for Maicon and Thiago Silva failed to materialise, with Ricardo Carvalho teaming up with Mourinho for the third time in his career at a cut-price €8m. Sami Khedira completes Real Madrid mark II of the new Perez epoch, and with Sergio Canales being retained rather that shipped out on loan, there is no shortage of competition for a starting berth at the Santiago Bernabeu next season.
This is all well and good, you may ask, but how should this affect Barcelona, and how they conduct their business this season? After all it is unlikely that, Manchester City excluded perhaps, a club will outlay anywhere near what Real Madrid did in order to construct a team from the ashes of the Bernd Schuster/Ramon Calderon demise – certainly not within the foreseeable future.
Oezil will be Madrid's final summer purchase
And yet, Pep Guadiola’s swashbuckling Catalans maintained dominance, triumphing in both El Clasico encounters and ultimately retaining the Primera Division title. If Pep’s cultured collection of footballers were able to weather that particular spending storm, then why should they feel concerned, indeed apprehensive, about another Madrid summer of spending that exceeds their own?
There are key factors that suggest that this season may be altogether different, however, and will fundamentally shape the Primera Division campaign. It is how Guardiola’s side adapt and evolve to overcome these additional obstacles that will prove pivotal.
There is, of course, the Mourinho factor, surely soon to be given its own scientific thesis. Jose is arguably the first coach coveted as vehemently as any marquee signing, and it is little wonder. The Portuguese is the fixer, the former, the creator of miracles, and his signings have been shrewd, calculated, and in all the right places.
In situations of distress last season, for all the Benzemas, Kakas, & Alonsos, los Blancos had one simple tactic – provide the ball to Cristiano Ronaldo, in space. Against weaker sides, it worked, too, but against Barcelona, an altogether more sophisticated tactical perspective is required. However, as highlighted in the Champions League semi final last season, Mourinho has proven he is astute enough to manoeuvre around the strategies of Guardiola. The Barcelona coach faces the most charismatic of opposite numbers, and one that has dished out defeat to him before. The psychological warfare will begin from when the first ball is kicked.
Barcelona’s number one defensive tactic is also their most potent offensive one – possession. Retaining the ball frustrates opponents, and makes them anxious when they are able to regain the ball because they are well aware it could be a full three or four minutes before they see it again.
This will remain Guardiola’s philosophy – one that he would change for no man – but intriguingly, Mourinho has assembled a group which are equally comfortable on the ball in their own merit. Carvalho is notorious as, alongside Gerard Pique, the most accomplished central defender in the game with the ball at his feet. New additions Khedira and the exciting Oezil – ‘The German Iniesta’, if such a comparison is possible – played in a Germany team confident of their own touch, each one with proficient awareness.
Alonso is the passing ‘Don’ in the family that is the Spanish international midfield, while Canales will have been engrained in La Roja's philosophy at under 21 level. Few teams take on the Blaugrana at their own beautiful game, but if Mourinho were to attempt it, it would represent a different challenge from those Guardiola has tackled during his two-year tenure.
Canales is one of Spanish football's brightest prospects
Barcelona also face a rival that, even Guardiola himself would admit, have considerable depth to their squad in comparison to the comparatively meagre number of first team players he has available. David Villa and Adriano are the additions, but Thierry Henry, Dmytro Chygrynskiy, Rafael Marquez, and Yaya Toure the departed – the maths simply don’t reconcile for a squad that was bereft of depth and fortunate with injuries in 2009/10.
An attempt at masquerading, at papering over the cracks by utilising the latest La Masia products to emerge in the Supercopa versus Sevilla ultimately ended in a 3-1 defeat. This is the first sign that Guardiola knows he can’t place the same strain on the likes of Xavi, Messi, and Iniesta for a third consecutive season, or risk significant burnout as the importance of the fixtures progressively grows. You feel that the young fringe players may be required to mature as quickly and effectively as Pedro did last season, in order for Barcelona to have the fortitude for competition on all fronts.
Madrid, conversely, look to have first-class cover in every conceivable position, and in Mourinho have a coach who can extract the best from a player asked to deviate slightly from their comfort zone. Should Oezil be asked to operate from the left wing, or Ronaldo asked to resort back to his conventional right wing role, the former Inter diplomat is an expert in making each and every player seamlessly fit into one.
However, Barcelona's most significant asset remains the gradual configuration of their team, as opposed to a Real Madrid that will take time to find correlation. The relationships are already in place, the wavelengths synchronised, and in Villa they have secured one of the greatest strikers in the world - South Africa 2010 did nothing other than cement this belief.
There is no denying that this Real Madrid squad, with a certain Special coach, represents the single most viable threat to Barcelona's domestic supremacy since Guardiola replaced Frank Rijkaard. How Pep handles the new and improved, refined Madrid will shape the destination of this season's title. With a matter of days until the big kick off, the prospect is mouthwatering.
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Goal.com Poll
Poll runs from Aug 19, 2010 to Aug 29, 2010
Poll runs from Aug 19, 2010 to Aug 29, 2010
Can Barcelona Fight Off Another Real Madrid Revolution?
Yes
51.75%
No
48.25%
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